The Leonardo A. Poco & Associates, Architects (LAPAA), a professional architectural design and planning firm that tailors and executes beautiful cost-effective design solutions, has provided full subsidies for tuition and miscellaneous fees to qualified graduating architecture students through the PoCo Architects Scholarship Award.
The first monetary scholarship donation of the company, which aims to support qualified BS Architecture students at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts, will run for four years, from the current academic year until 2024.
Interested applicants must be in their last year or last three terms, have good curricular and non-curricular standing and must be working on their thesis with research interests aligned with the academic thrust and educational mission of the college.
The entity, together with the Benilde Center for Scholarships and Grants and the Dean’s Office, will screen applicants, with consideration for their socio-economic backgrounds.
“On behalf of the Benildean Community, we are grateful to Leonardo A. Poco & Associates, Architects (LAPAA) for their generosity and support to our scholarship program,” Benilde president Br. Edmundo Fernandez, FSC said. “The PoCo Architects Scholarship Award is proof of the hope that comes from the collaboration of the architecture industry and the academe. We hope that we continue to establish and strengthen partnerships with the industry in the mission of teaching the next generation.”
The donation was granted on the occasion of the 65th birthday of its principal architect and founder. This also marks Poco’s 38-year marriage and partnership with Cecilia Rañoa Poco. It honors both family’s tradition of academic excellence, research, and scholarship. He likewise acknowledges the innumerable contributions of his late brother, Manuel Poco, Jr. and the countless colleagues that have worked with him over the years.
The team stated that the donation is an acknowledgment of the blessings received by their family, to pay the grace forward to promising architecture students. They have formerly collaborated with the institution for its newly opened five-story Sports and Dorm Building and have worked on Our Lady of the Star Chapel and Parmenie of the Center for Lasallian Formation of the De La Salle Zobel.
“May this donation assist the willing, able, and in need, especially in the light of the crisis that the ongoing pandemic has wrought. We thank the La Salle Brothers for giving us the opportunity to make a difference and may God’s grace allow us all to continue to help more in the future,” Poco shared.
Ar. Poco has previously shared his expertise in design, real estate and development as the Chief Architect for the Rufino and Prieto organizations for nearly a decade with projects such as The Corinthian Villas, The Mile Long Building and The Gallery.
He believes that architecture is the manifestation of an effective real-estate development strategy and utilizes it to empower partners and clients. He continuously engages in research and analyzes case studies of various outstanding local and foreign design projects and typologies in Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe with a key focus on shopping centers and condominium typologies.
